Soriku- Too close this time
by Peppershy-kitten
Summary: I'm just going to post this here and see how it does and if fails I wont post the rest. Characters (C) Kingdom Hearts- Square Enix Concept of Fictions: Me and My friend, Turnip-chan Sora:Me Turnip: Riku/ Ansem/Light Seeker
1. Chapter 1

Cool water lapped and licked at white sand kissing away the footprints of the day with its gentle caressing waves. A coconut fell from a unsettled tree who was whispering stories of two friends to the wind as it passed by. The sun closed her eyes and hurried off to bed to allow her pale-faced brother a glimpse of the world from up above as two boys- two friends thundered over the calm and sleepy shore. It was a race for home and dinner.

"Come on Sora I know you sit on your butt all day but I didn't think you would be this slow." the tallest boy yelled out to the other. "Better hurry up or I'll just leave the island without you."

The spiteful tease hardened the shorter make trailing behind his friend; he kicked his legs faster and tried to catch up. The sun had disappeared leaving the land cold under the watchful eye of the moon. As the wind picked up Sora finally arrived at the dock, panting and donning a cheesy smile. '' Hey, don't blame me. You're just as lazy.'' He chuckled, slipping into his boat.

"True true maybe it's your hair it doesn't allow air to flow through like mine thus making you slower" the silver haired boy nudged at his friend as they started to row towards home.

''Nah-uh, my hair's just fine.'' Sora snorted, '' and stay in your own boat, you're gonna make me capsize, you jerk.'' The comment was met with a chuckle as the two pushed at the belly of each other's boat with a paddle.

As the couple rowed slowly toward the mainland, the sun began to slowly set along the horizon. Riku stopped rowing for a moment and stared at the warm sun's bright colors engulfing closer to the darkness. The warmth faded from the boy's skin and a chill came in its place. Riku remembered the hardships that he and Sora had gone through to fight against the darkness that hid deep within the boy's heart. The sound of water sloshing behind Riku's steer went unnoticed as Sora pulled up beside the other.

'' Whacha thinking about, Riku?'' He realized immediately that he'd disturbed the boy's thought process from the look he received. It was a lost and hopeless gaze that had darkened his features.

"Oh, not much I guess. I was thinking about our adventures and how badly we wanted to leave the island and travel to different worlds using our small raft." Riku smirked as he recalled all the time they took to prepare for that journey with him, Sora, and Kairi. A small smile played on Sora's lips at the memory but the stream of thoughts and recognition brought forth the troubling image of his struggle to find Riku and Karai.

''...Oh...'' It was the word he could think to utter in reply, his mind now being plagued with the whispering dreams of the past.

"Hey," a spray of sea water splashed on Sora's face thanks to the chuckling teen.

"We'd better kick it up to make it home on time or your mom's gonna kill us" riku said as he placed his ores back into the water.

Drenched and a bit shock-stricken, the brunette gawked at Riku as his mouth twisted into a scowl. ''Yeah, yeah.'' Sora sneered as they reached the shoreline and anchored their boat at the pier.

'' C'mon...'' The boy called as he raced ahead weaving through the quiet street of the town.

"Oh not even a warning" riku yelled out as he began to sprint toward his friend. The statement earned him a snickering snort as they reached Sora's doorstep and hurried inside.

"Mom, I'm home... and I brought Riku." There was only silence as the two filed into the kitchen.

"Hmm it looks like she's not home..." Riku said as he scanned the small house.

Sora shrugged and agreed softly, removing his shoes and placing by the doorway of kitchen and motioned for Riku to follow. Climbing the stairs that lead to his room, the boy couldn't help but worry about his parents' whereabouts. But he brushed the eerie feeling as he opened his bedroom and closed it behind Riku as he entered. Heading straight his bed, Sora stretched over the warm sheets before patting the free space to flag Riku's attention toward the bed.

Riku plopped beside sora and stared at the ceiling fan that rotated slowly. "You okay?" he asked while glancing at the brunet's bright blue eyes.

The question made Sora think for a moment before shrugging, " I'm fine just a little mentally preoccupied I guess." He offered with a dorky simper alongside to counter his pensive statement.

Riku looked at his friend scanning his expression with his piercing eyes; he softened his gaze and gently hugged his friend. This notion felt right to Riku but something else was bothering him deep inside. "Hey Sora?" Riku muffled next to his friend," did you see anyone while running home?" perhaps that's what made him tense up was the amount of silence on the mainland.

Sora took the embrace in silence, hesitant to return the thought as he slipped his arms under Riku's. The words slowly formulated in his fuzzy brain-still trying wrap his mind around Riku's solace. After a minute or so, the boy spoke up, "Not that I recall, why?" Sora's voice faded out as he pursed his lips in deep thought.

"I didn't see anyone either, it seems as though everyone has disappeared but I'm not going to jump to conclusions" Riku said as a small bit of nervousness pierced his gut. Sora's grip on the back of Riku's shirt tightened as the sentence registered in his head.

'' Don't say stupid stuff like that, Riku. I'm sure everything's fi-" the last few words were drowned out by the sound of thunder rolling in the distance as a flash of lightning danced dangerously close to his window sill.

Riku tightened his grasp on his friend as the bright flash illuminated the room. He could feel Sora's gloved hands grip on the back of his shirt. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you" Riku whispered into Sora's ear softly.

"...just- just shut up, okay." He murmured his message into the other's collarbone as he rested against Riku's shoulder and sniffled quietly to the darkness. The storm outside regaled the horribly painful memories that fateful they were separated. '' Don't leave me... Please don't...'' Sora absentmindedly muttered his inner thoughts to himself.

Another flash of lightning illuminated the couple while a beastly roar of thunder to follow. They could hear the pitter-patter of rain hitting the roof. "don't worry I'm not leaving you, not this time." Riku slowly stroked Sora's hair and closed his eyes. In his mind Riku could see the face of betrayal Sora had when the darkness engulfed Riku it made the towhead's heart ache to even think of how much pain he had caused his best friend.

Sora allowed the promise to soothe his quarreling fears of losing his friend again, the warm hand brushing back his spiked locks sent a static shock through Sora's very being. This wasn't the usual for Riku, but he wasn't really up for arguing with a good feeling at the moment.

The storm continued for what felt like hours but the two boys hardly moved positions .like a cocoon, Riku tried to protect Sora from not only the storm but also the discomfort that'll the silent island. Suddenly a huge lightning strike hit a power box and then pitch darkness covered the house. Chaos ensued throughout the boy's mind as he yelped at the sudden abysmal blackness, Sora swore softly against Riku's shirt and buried his face deeper into his collar. The power outage nearly had scared himself out his plain wits.

Riku tried to calm Sora as much as he could but even he wasn't expecting this much darkness peering outside, it seemed the entire town had a power surge. "Sora, we need to get some light" Riku said lightly as he slowly lightened his grasp on the shaken boy. Sora only nodded as he reluctantly loosen his grasp on Riku's shirt and let out a shaky sigh. After a moment he scooted back and slid off the bed, allowing the darkness of the room to swallow his figure as he stood up.

Riku lightly grabbed his friend's hand "I'm going to be right next to you okay? I don't know your house as well as you do so you can lead" Riku suggested as he tried to adjust his eyesight but no dust. The comment that he assumed was meant to comfort actually caused Sora to internally panic worse though he never allowed it show on the outside. The two descended the stairs and entered the living room.

Pausing for a moment, Sora tensed up as he felt a eerie and familiar cold sensation in the air. His hand held fast to Riku as he backed out of the room to confront the questioning look he was receiving from the other.

Seeing the fear in Sora's eyes, Riku knew something was wrong. A sharp pain surged in the boy's chest and he could have sworn he could hear a voice, a dark cruel voice. Riku swallowed hard as he looked around the corner. He scanned the area and then his eyes widened as he saw a black figure starting to form, Heartless. " Sora, can you still summon your key blade?" Riku whispered.

Paralyzed by the familiar creature's appearance, Sora's thoughts were elsewhere. In his daze, he felt a persistent nagging voice screaming at him to wake up. Snapping back, the boy reflexively summoned his keyblade to arms and released Riku's hand. Narrowing crystal blue eyes and grasped his blade, Sora steadied himself and launched at the shadowy figure with a vicious swipe only to fall short as a Heartless snatched up his ankle. Growling at the sneaky move the boy sliced through the creature and continued to forward, slashing Heartless after another to reach the silhouetted Ansem.

The dark figure's cruel smile began to stretch into a villainous grin as the figure dropped into the shadows before Sora could get to him. Riku summoned his weapon and raced toward the darkness surrounding Sora. Before he could get to the boy's side, Riku stopped with a surging pain in his heart as the surrounding shadows popped out a barricade of figures. A wall of shaded clones of the same person who have made the boys' lives hell. Ansem. Each one of him selves stared at Sora and Riku and began to chuckle. "Ah so we meet again just the three of us." The figures said in unison. Sora frowned and crossed his arms, " Don't you mean two? The way I see it you're not even a person! You may have a body but it's not yours." The brunet huffed and took his side by Riku, who looked to be struggling with his heart.

"That may be true for now, but I'm certain that it will change in the near future, I assure you." The shadows stared intensely at the boy. "You may think of me as just a memory, or a mere shadow, but believe me when I say that I'm very much still alive and your journeys have only just begun." The shadowed Ansems' voices rang as the barricade of shadows stretched higher then released a slew of heartless onto the boys. Completely engulfed by the monsters, Riku struggled to try to get away from them. All he could see was Ansem with determined golden orange eyes staring right back at the silver haired boy. The figure then stretched out his hand and grabbed wistfully at Riku's chest. His heart was burning with intense pain as if he was having his life squeezed out of him. Then the pain stopped and Ansem was nowhere to be seen.

Sora was off in the corner of the family room finishing off the last few Shadows and cursing as one lunged at the dazed towhead. With a clean upper cut he was vanquished the beastie in a single slash. Holding his hand out, Sora helped up Riku to his feet and steadied him. "You okay? I don't nedda drag your limp butt down to the clinic do I?" He joked, though internally he was having absolute internal melt-down about the events prior to Ansem's little 'reunion'.

"Heh, I'll be alright." Riku spoke through staggering breaths. He could still feel Ansem's cold grasp but hid his discomfort from the concerned boy. "Come on we'd better check outside to see if there are any more Heartless lurking around."

Sora pulled back and frowned, watching as the towhead's stance was slowly being crippled by something he couldn't see but he said only nodded. He summoned the keyblade to him and hurried ahead to scan the hallway and opened the front. Although he paused for a moment noticing Riku's agility and motivation had slowed to a near steely stop.

Something was fighting Riku internally, just like the first time in Hallow Bastion. The boy became frustrated, why was it so hard to suppress the darkness, he had done it multiple times before with ease, now, he was barely holding on. Riku could see the worried look in Sora's eyes. "Don't focus on the darkness; focus on the light, Sora's light." He thought to himself clenching his jaw. As his mind flowed with memories of Sora from when they were young to when they fought against Xemnas, the pain began to cease until it became only sore. In relief of the fighting within himself, Riku strode toward Sora and gave him a pat on the back before reaching for the doorknob.

Sora pursed his lips and glanced at the other as if trying to figure him out. He relaxed his gaze and stood back, preparing himself physically as well as mentally for the troubling sight of their island once again covered in darkness. Holding his key at ease, Sora nodded once and looked to Riku for the signal. Riku returned the nod and opened the door but what he saw he couldn't believe.

Outside of the house there was only the surrounding green of the lawn and after that was pure darkness. Destiny Island, their home was gone and here they were swallowed in pitch darkness. "What the?"

"Huh?'' Sora stepped forward and nearly fell out the opened door. Standing and rubbing his eyes, he blinked and looked to Riku as if he could comprehend as to what had happened to their home, their, their world! They had lost everything to the darkness... friends, family, everything! Sora growled and went to step outside when he felt a hand snatch him back up and slam the door before a pair of startling ice blue eyes stood in front of him with crossed arms.

"We gotta be careful about this Sora. We don't know what's out there right now." Riku looked into the boy's panicky eyes. Riku began to pace, running his fingers back and forth in his silver hair trying to make any sense of this. He tried his best to hide his surprise but his guise wasn't at all convincing. He gave up the pace and sat on the arm of the couch nearby and began to rub his temples with his fingers. He looked at Sora who he could tell was just as freaked out as he was and beckoned him to come closer. "Sorry sora, this is intense, I guess for the both of us."

Sora walked over and sat in front of the arm, propping up his elbows on his kneecaps and sighed. All of this chaotic goose hunting was making his stomach hurt and he feel sick. Crawling up on the couch cushions, Sora leaned over and hugged Riku to bury his face in the towhead and sighed once more. "Yeah me too."

Riku wrapped his arms around the boy. He tried to find an understanding as to how these events occurred but it was too soon to tell. Maybe it had something to do with Ansem, or something else.

"Hey Sora, do you think that this might be connected to why we didn't see anyone while heading toward the house?"

"'guess so..." Sora replied in a defeated whisper, "I mean it makes sense." the boy pursed his lips and closed his eyes trying to gather the strength to let go of Riku and not breakdown. This was almost easy the first time around but Sora felt his heart muddling in the doubt Ansem's message had left him with.

Seeing the discomfort on Sora's face, Riku knelt by the boy and pushed his cheeks up to make a smile. "Hey come on, where's that optimistic boy that I love?" He asked trying to lighten the mood. Pulling Riku's hand down and settling them in his lap, Sora shook his head and sighed.

"It's no use, Rikuu... I can't do it this time. I don't have the heart." He looked up at the towhead and smiled a broken simper before the edges started to crack and a grimace finally overwhelmed his facade. " He's right we can't win..."

"Woah there, Sora now that is my line. Come on, we've fought Ansem in the past and won, I'm sure we can do it again." Riku tried to lift sora's spirit but he could tell it wasn't working as well as he thought. He looked toward the door once more and got up. He walked toward the door and opened it with the darkness swirling around the area.

The brunet sat up and hunched over his knees, his face still set in that grimace as he glared at the wooden floor.

"Riku, that's just what he wants... You to be the little hero... He'll take your heart too. And you might not come-" Sora paused and stood up, trying to shake off the very thought of that demonic old geezer ripping Riku away from him again._ Not again. _

Riku frowned; he turned back to Sora and looked at him straight in the eye. " Sora, I know that I have a history of having issues with the darkness. Even now I can tell that I can still feel him residing. But I'm telling you now that there's nothing we can't accomplish. Like you said once there is always light it may be small in the deepest of darkness but it's still there."

At first the brunette's expression didn't change but then he softened and allowed a gentle smile to form on his lips. Stepping forward to join Riku's side, the teen stole a glance up at him and a faint quirk of his lips was the only indication that he was willing to fight this one last round. " But after this you own me. I've always wanted to try a paopu fruit so you're getting me one once this is all over, got it?"

"Heh however many you want." Riku smirked. He looked at the dark space before looking back to Sora. "What do you say about figuring out what exactly is out there?"

" I say," He paused and grinned smugly at the question before commanding his keyblade to his hand and seized the heavy sword in both hands. He sent a quick eye in Riku's direction before stepping forward and donning a challenging smirk,

" You're. On. "He laughed and raced out the door.

Riku followed Sora and stopped with the boy at the edge of the house. Looking down, all he could see was darkness. He carefully stretched his arm into the haze and pulled it back being covered with black smoke. "Hmm." Riku pondered for a moment then released a fireball into the distance which was swallowed instantaneously. The sight disheartened the boy almost as quickly as the darkness had imbibed that fireball in a single gulp.

"I'm sorry Riku... " Sora breathed before disappearing in the unknown depths of the unseen barrier in front of them to pass through a level of unimaginable cold and dismay.

"Sora!" Riku shouted trying to stop the boy but it was too late, he was swallowed up and nowhere to be seen.


	2. Chapter 2

He sent a quick eye in Riku's direction before stepping forward and donning a challenging smirk, "You're. On." He said and raced out the door. Riku followed Sora and stopped with the boy at the edge of the house. Looking down, all he could see was darkness. He carefully stretched his arm into the haze and pulled it back being covered with black smoke.

"Hmm." Riku pondered for a moment then released a fireball into the distance which was swallowed instantaneously. The sight disheartened the boy almost as quickly as the darkness had imbibed that fireball in a single gulp.

"I'm sorry Riku... "Sora breathed before disappearing in the unknown depths of the unseen barrier in front of them to pass through a level of unimaginable cold and dismay.

"Sora!" Riku shouted trying to stop the boy but it was too late, he was swallowed up and nowhere to be seen.

Without another thought Riku plunged in behind Sora. As soon as he entered through the shadowy barrier, Riku stumbled into someplace very similar. "Behind the door, in the world of darkness once again." Riku muttered to himself. He looked around and there was still no sign of Sora. He took a step forward then his heart began to burn with higher intensity than before. He gripped his chest and fell to his knees refraining himself from screaming. He could hear a laugh, Ansem's laugh, and then everything went dark.

Blinking a few times short of twelve, Sora groaned softly and righted himself then stood. He looked around to realize he'd been here once before. The floating platform, the hovering puzzle piece staircase, it was all coming back in a rush of vague memorabilia. He called out for Riku then remembered he was probably still on the other side. Swearing, the brunette sat back down and sighed. "Man I'm stupid..." he murmured to the silence to have it echo back to him.

Riku was still unconscious when he could feel Ansem seep out of his heart. The man looked down at the boy, his pathetic cage that he had trapped himself in three years ago, and kicked the limp body in the gut. "Calm yourself, you have already put the pawns into place it is just merely waiting for the opportune moment." he thought to himself.

Looking down again at Riku he could see the darkness swirling about him desperate to consume him and his light inside his heart. Reaching towards the boy's chest, Ansem was soon recoiled by a spark; the boy's heart was fighting him once again. "Damn you boy." Ansem hissed in frustration, but relaxed himself, he would have to wait in the shadows for when the boy begins to doubt himself or begins to feel anger that is the time for Ansem to enter back into his body. In that moment Ansem faded into the darkness.

A chilling breath of air suddenly shot up from underneath Sora's feet and sent his platform keeling over and swerving off center. He let out a yelp and grabbed at the air as if that would save him. In an instance he was sent hurtling down a techno-colored vortex. Landing below on yet another platform, however this level had a large rosy door in the center of the floor. Curious the boy summoned his keyblade and unlocked the passage to pull back the handle and reveal a world of cobbled roads and cottage styled house and shops. Traverse Town...

Run all he could do was run, away from the mistakes he had made in the past, away from any friends that he betrayed, Sora... Riku could only see the amount of pain he had brought to his friends and how he had abandoned them all being consumed by darkness was he. Riku was gasping for air as he was sinking into the pitch, when suddenly a light, a small light escaped from him and repelled the darkness away. That light, which warmed the boy like sunlight, began to take form only as a mere figure unknown to the boy.

Then it spoke, "What do you wish me to find?" The question caught Riku off guard as well as the strange presence. "Who are you?" Riku asked. "I am a light seeker in your heart, which is slowly being eaten by the darkness around you; my job is to find you the light which you seek." Riku thought for a moment when the light seeker continued. "I will find the something or someone who you are looking for, when I find them your heart will show you the way toward it." This was very confusing to Riku but if it could find something... Or someone.

"Find Sora!" Riku answered quickly, this may be his one chance to reunite with the boy and by all of Kingdom Hearts he wasn't going to miss the opportunity. "As you wish." With that the light seeker disappeared in a flash leaving Riku to wake up in the darkness alone once more, with only one goal in mind. "Don't worry Sora, I'm coming for you." The boy was nearly sent to his knees by the memories flooding his mind.

He leaned against the door and grunted in pain as he clutched his head to block the images. He was obviously here because Riku was, but where was Riku? He pushed himself off of the doorway and stepped in the world to have the door shut behind him. Calling for his best friend warily, Sora wandered the streets and levels of Traverse Town for over an hour only to realize Riku was indeed not here nor anywhere he'd been.

Suddenly a spark illuminated behind the brunette and out popped a strange looking creature. Its body had a shimmering effect as it bounced lightly up and down in the air and its black eyes focused on Sora. During the boy's search, the figure followed closely behind. When Sora stopped, a small voice that sounded similar to how Riku sounded when he was younger said, "Hello Sora."

In a fluster, Sora whirled about with wild hopeful eyes. He frowned when he was met by a rather queer looking creature who had apparently spoken his name. "How do you know my name?" He demanded, backing up and summoning his key. "Are you a cohort of Ansem? Where's Riku!" Sora grimaced as the name brought him a sickness wave of memories of his best friend and their island.

The creature didn't move away from the keyblade instead got closer. "I am not affiliated with the one named Ansem, I am part of Riku's light, and I know your name because Riku wanted me to find you. For your last question, Riku is currently beyond the door of kingdom hearts covered in darkness." The light seeker explained to the boy.

" B-beyond Kingdom Hearts... Ah man. I should've never left...'' He sighed but quickly asked one final question, "How can I get there?" Sora's eyes iced over and glared at the light Seeker.

"It's not so easy, it is a one way door where only he can come out we can't go in. But since I have found you I can point Riku to the right direction." It explained as best as it could and then sent out what looked to be like a shooting star toward the direction where Riku was. "We might not be able to enter but we can meet up with him where he can get out. We only have to follow the trail."

"Wait, why are you helping me again?" Sora questioned immediately as he pursed his lips and vaguely glance in the direction of the thin line of light. "How can I be sure you mean well?" He inquired skeptically with crossed arms and twisted lips.

"I am part of Riku's light, when Ansem tried to take over his heart; I was able to repel him. His heart was crying out to get away from the darkness and get to the one thing that kept his light from going out, you. You might not trust me, but one thing I am positive is that as long as Riku is in that place his darkness gets stronger. If you don't want to lose him again like last time, you have to trust me."

" I don't trust you, I can't. But I'll do anything to find Riku. Even if that means following weird talking sprites around the universe. You take me to Riku then I'll believe you." Sora reasoned and looked once more at the light supposedly meant to lead the way to his friend


	3. Chapter 3

Meanwhile Riku wandered around the grey surfaces searching for a way out but the deeper his journey went the more heartless he began to come across. He fought as best as he could but didn't leave the battles without a few scratches. Above his head he could see a small shimmering trail flowing throughout the area. "It must be Sora." Riku said softly as he sprinted to follow the light. He ran closer to exit the dark surroundings when a slew of heartless fell on top of him. He struggled fiercely to get free but he couldn't budge. He could feel the heartless' claws digging into his skin more and more with a deep sting. Standing above him was Ansem who grabbed the collar of Riku's shirt and pulled him out of the pile. In his grasp Riku fought trying to get free, but then Ansem picked up Riku's keyblade, the weapon that could unlock hearts. "Now this should start to get interesting." Ansem grinned and stabbed Riku in the heart with his own keyblade. His cry echoed everywhere and the only thing that Riku saw next was his own heart floating out of his body and Ansem's golden orange eyes. The farther into the town the pair went to pursue the glimmering beacon of hope the more Sora's memories began sprutting out. The images were coming on far more aggressively than before to the point where they were almost immobilizing.

Sora also continued to feel an unsettling sinking feel in the pit of his stomach as if something were amiss. However he couldn't quite place the quiver's meaning just yet he was soon to understand it's near pre-warning message in the closing future. The light seeker suddenly fell to the ground and began to shake fiercely.

"S-something's up, Riku... I." The creature whimpered looking at its tail the golden shimmer started to darken slowly. Sora quickly back tracked and knelt down to offer any aid possible to the Light Seeker. Somehow something told this could only mean that Riku's heart had finally subcomed to the darkness that was Ansem's doing. He hesitated on his approach as he moved the progressively slow change in the Light. Seeker's appearance. He changed his luck and cradled the creature in his palms and set it in his hood. "Don't you go biting my head or anything you hear?"

"Mmhmm," it replied. Meanwhile Riku felt emptiness inside him; he could feel himself drifting away slowly but memories fading faster. He couldn't remember where he was, he was certain that he was looking for someone and that the light trail was to show him the way. He could feel something seeping into him, beginning to control his movement. Who it was, he couldn't remember. He was stumbling through the vast area before reaching a giant white door.

"Oh don't you worry, Riku all will start to make sense soon enough, we are just going to have a little reunion with a friend of ours." The man inside him said before pushing through the door. An hour or so later the brunette came across the edge of the world and a new door. He looked up to that the light line was hanging just overhead and he smiled in relief then stood back. "Seeker, what now?" The creature barely raised its head and looked up. "We...wait" it said breathlessly looking at its body which was half black half gold. Suddenly a click of the door rang out as it began to open. The boy instinctively stepped back and stood at alert for what was to come. He narrowed his eyes at the figure approaching from the dark horizon before drawing a soft breath and whispered as if in pain yet relieved joy the name of his best friend. In truth best friend really didn't quite capture Riku's bond with Sora... The only word known to man to describe their ties was... Love... which constantly label as highly protective brotherly love for one another. In other words: Bromance.

"That boy, seems familiar somehow," Riku thought to him, "was he the one I was looking for?" The boy stumbled for a moment finally free of that dark world before glancing at the brunette once more. Sora went to welcome the towhead when he noticed something different about the air around him. "Riku?" He inquired hopelessly as he drew closer to the other and reached out a gloved hand. "Riku, I'm so sorry I just- Riku? What's wrong?" "Wh-who are y-" Riku was then interrupted with a massive pain, as if his body was being ripped in half. He could feel it, the man taking over again. He grabbed Sora's wrist harshly as if meaning to break it, and pulled him close. "This is almost too easy." Ansem hissed as he summoned Riku's keyblade. The brunette fought to tear himself from the other's grip but when he felt Riku's hand connect with his bare wrist Sora nearly jolted at the warm feeling of the towhead's skin on his. However his daydream was cut short when he realized this may look like sound like him too but his cold eyes and painfully outrageous strength was definitely not that of Riku. "Sora!" The light seeker shouted before shooting out of the boy's hood and plunged into Riku's chest. Riku's external appearance was a mix of shock and pain as the boy reached to where the creature went trying to pull it out. Internally, the real Riku could make out only a bit of light in the darkness.

"Riku what happened? I have Sora here he can help. You need to tell me what's wrong!" The light seeker was scared and was getting darker every minute it was in there. "I can't remember anything. Who's Sora?" The light seeker was about to answer when a force constricted the being and began to force it out. A spark of memory entered Riku's mind as soon as he spoke Sora's name. The memory of what happened to him. Quickly he looked towards the seeker and shouted, "Find my heart!" Then Riku was alone once more with only one memory in his cage and the ambition to get out. Sora panicked and summoned his keyblade to arms. "Riku, what have you done...?" He murmured biting his lip and sighing as he stood at ease before backing up a bit. "You're not Riku anymore; you're not MY Riku at least." Sora told himself and glared at the Light Seeker. "I trusted you... "He said bitterly before glancing back at Riku and lunging forward to strike down the new threat he purposed. Riku blocked the attack before summoning a slew of heartless to attack the boy.

Before a single shadow could get to Sora, the light seeker rushed in front of the boy and took the hit. The brunette stood awestricken for a moment before racing over to assess the damage done. He growled in frustration and grabbed the foolhardy sprite to quickly shoving it back under his hood for safety reasons. It appeared to be barely breathing and he had to figure out a plan of action and fast. Taking his leaving Sora hastily disappeared down the alleyways and scrambled up a fire escape to scurry over the grated walkway and swooped into a vacant Hotel room before slamming the window he crawled in through shut and hurriedly yanked the blinds close. He then grabbed the sprite from his hood and set it on the bed to get better look at it. The sprite wasn't doing so well, scratch marks covered its darkening flesh which reached to its upper torso already. "Thank you Sora." It said gasping for breath. Sora muttered a rather irked 'whatever' in reply as he walked back over the window to seek out the blinds. The boy returned and sat on the bed next to the Light Seeker, suddenly feeling terribly sick to his stomach again.

_God Riku... Why? Why did you-_ The boy immediately broke his thought process and went lean over and placed the creature in his lap before standing and heading to bathroom. "I need to clean you up, don't worry me won't drown you..." Sora said to reassure himself rather than the creature. "I went inside Riku to tell him that I had found you. But something was wrong, I couldn't find his heart and when I told him the message, he didn't know who you were." The seeker spoke through hisses as the water touched the fresh wounds." Shhh- ah, you mean to tell me he has... forgotten me? "The words came stumbled out as Sora nearly dropped the Light Seeker in the pooling water in the sink's bowl. He swallowed hardly and laughed meekly, internally he felt so nauseous that every medicine in the world wouldn't have been able to touch the type of stomach pains he was experiencing. He actually had to stop what he was doing and sit down on the toilet seat for standing alone made him ill. How could his best friend (in honest his lifetime playmate) have forgotten who he was? It just didn't make sense. The light seeker fought in the water for a moment while getting a grip on the tub.

Clinging to the basin the sprite continued," but he seemed to have a spark of remembrance while I was being pulled out, he said to find his heart. It might explain the lost memories and my current state. You see, I represent Riku's light inside of his heart, with it out of his body it starts to collect the darkness from the outside."" Yes, thank you for reminding me for THIRD time, Seeker. I do not have the patience for this anymore. Where do we need to go? I have to bandage you and find a blanket." Sora listed for his notes aloud before realizing what had been thought was said and what had been said very crude. The sprite had a pained look on its face; it tried to think for a moment before looking out the window. "Maybe I could use the same technique that led me to you to find Riku's heart." It muttered softly before putting all focus in creating the trail. A thin line formed and flowed outside and continued farther toward the door of kingdom hearts. "It must still be inside." Sora narrowed his eyes and went to grab the first aid from the front desk and paid for the room's board before retreating back in the bathroom where the Sprite was still soaking in the sink. Pulling it out and drying it off, Sora quickly bandaged only the large patches of heaviest scratches. When he had finished he set the kit aside and held the Light Seeker up to the light. " Now how can I help _y__ou_?" he inquired with a frown.


	4. Chapter 4

_"Maybe I could use the same technique that led me to you to find Riku's heart." It muttered softly before putting all focus in creating the trail. A thin line formed and flowed outside and continued farther toward the door of kingdom hearts. "It must still be inside." Sora narrowed his eyes and went to grab the first aid from the front desk and paid for the room's board before retreating back in the bathroom where the Sprite was still soaking in the sink. Pulling it out and drying it off, Sora quickly bandaged only the large patches of heaviest scratches. When he had finished he set the kit aside and held the Light Seeker up to the light. " Now how can I help You?" he inquired with a frown._

"Well getting Riku's heart back fast would help. As far as right now, maybe back in the hood, it nice and warm there." The sprite blushed a little. "You are always so kind even after Riku betrayed you, you still went through multiple obstacles to find him. I can tell you that you are probably the reason why Riku's light didn't go out immediately after his heart was released." "Right." He chuckled and replaced the sprite back into his hood before grabbing the kit and heading to the front desk to return it. After he had successfully managed that Sora locked up his room and summoned his weapon, "Hold on in there, this could get rough and for the record please resist the urge to put yours in harm's way. You make it harder for me." The brunet reasoned as he exited the lobby and stepped out in the street. He quickly followed the path the light Seeker's trail guided him to and arrived at the door containing Kingdom Hearts. "No turning back right? Just one way out." he said before pulling open the door with a mighty yank and quickly slipped in. Darkness covered the vast area beyond the door. It would have been pitch black if not for the slivering gold trail that shined through the black fog. Somewhere in here was Riku's heart. Outside the door, Ansem bolted the passage so no one could get in or out thus trapping Sora inside. "

What do you want from me?" Riku shouted while banging at the dark walls that surrounded him. "Oh Riku, be patient, I only need you for a short amount of time then I'll free myself from your body. Of course though without me in here and without your heart you'll simply disappear and turn into one of these creatures." Ansem smirked as he sliced through an injured heartless.

"It really is only a matter of time." Sora looked about and raised his keyblade to light his way. A shining beam of energy lit the area just up ahead and low and behold, Riku's heart was only a few feet away. The only problem now was reaching it in time and making sure Seeker stayed put this time. The light seeker's head was the last thing that still shined golden but with every step the black was swallowing more and more. "Just a little more. Uh I'm not feeling very well." The sprite was convulsing off and on in the boy's hood trying desperately to hold on a little bit longer. Sora hurried through the mesh of heartless shadows and just as he was about to capture Riku's heart he slipped and fell on some sort of black sludge.

Although he quickly recovered and snagged his prize just in time. Now to find Riku and lure Ansem out. He hurriedly went to find the exit on noticing the door was locked Sora raised his keyblade and was able to unlatch the locks and free himself. Sora's touch on Riku's heart sent a burst of warmth into it once more as the door open to reveal day's light in the shadows the same happened with the heart. It began to glow brighter with the familiar presence and cured the light seeker with the darkness dripping off the creature like water. "You did it Sora! Now all we need to do is find Riku." The sprite exclaimed in excitement. Sora grimaced and shielded his eyes with arms as the cold air and bright shine of the sun rained down on the darkness' depths. He stepped forward in the light and jumped as the door to Kingdom Hearts slammed shut behind him.

Shaking off the scare, the brunet glanced about and frowned, "Seeker, he could be anywhere!" he mused in frustration before asking, "Do you think I could... use my heart to find him this time?" "Sure thing it's all up to you, you've found him on more than one occasion anyway. If you need me I'll be in here." The sprite then entered Riku's heart as to not get in the way. Huffing in determination and donning a warm smirk, Sora rested the heart back in his hood and closed his eyes. He centered all his thoughts on homing in on Riku's face, memories of him and even his love for his friend and sure enough he was able to feel a pulse somewhere off in the distance. "Got it," he murmured and headed for the first level. Reaching it just in time to see Riku leaving, Sora quickly hopped over the short cobble stone stairwell and flanked the towhead. "Ansem I know you're there! Give me back Riku!" He growled as launched himself into the air and came down hard on the unprepared boy. Riku rose to his feet and made a run through the alleyways trying to find an escape route. Sora narrowed his eyes at the fleeing other and hastily raced after him. "Oh no you don't! " He hissed and followed the path he last saw Riku sailing down. Finally the brunet was able to successfully catch up with the towhead and semi-corner him. The closer Sora got the stranger Riku felt. Inside himself which was empty, cold, and dark, the real Riku could feel something warm coming nearer to him. The familiar feeling that he remembered leaving him in this place, his heart. Riku focused on that warmth with all his might, "I will not let you keep me in here!" Riku yelled out through his own mouth audible to all ears. Ansem could feel the strength brewing inside and searched for answers until he saw it. With widened eyes Ansem could see a slight gleam inside the brunet's hood. "Impossible." With a wore battle cry Sora shot forward and pinned the other boy to the wall with his keyblade to his throat. " I'm letting you get away this time, Ansem. Seeker! " He grunted as he ground himself firmly in front of Riku and chanced a reach behind to release the towhead's heart from his hood. "Right" the sprite said inside the heart as it propelled itself inside Riku's chest.

Immediately the light from Riku's heart surged back to its origin until all of it was placed back. Ansem's yell faded back to Riku's and the boy toppled to the ground laying still for a moment. Then the boy's pale blue eyes fluttered as he looked up to see a familiar face. "Sora?"Sighing in bless'd relief, the brunet knelt down and offered Riku a hand, he was wearing a huge stupid smile on his lips as he brought Riku in a frighteningly tight hug the moment he was up. " You had me worried there for a minute." He laughed with broken and pain guffaw before breaking down all together in Riku's arms. "B-but next time I'm aiming for your face." "Heh yeah it's good to be back." Riku wrapped his arms around the boy "however you might want to lighten the hug a little or else I'm going to pass out on you from lack of oxygen." The boy joked only slightly, he was still a little weak and would take a moment or two in order to recover. Complying with the request, Sora slackened his hold slightly but still held tight to Riku's waist as he leaned his head against the towhead's. He had to know that this was Riku finally and that he wasn't going anywhere without him. " I'm sorry... I'm sorry I was so brash. It's my fault you lost your heart. I should have just waited and stayed with you... I..." he trailed off and only tightened his grip weakly, needing to feel safe and full again.

"Hey hey, it's not your fault, and there was no possible way that you would have known what was going to happen." Riku petted the boy and placed his chin on top of Sora's head. "However from now on we do things together, okay?" He smirked down at the brunet, it pained Riku to see him feel that way just as it pained him to realize that if it wasn't for Sora, he might not even be there sighed and pressed himself up against the other before speaking," I like y- I like knowing that you're back! Yeah that's what I meant to say, I like knowing that you're back. Heh- heh." He quickly covered up his almost folly of admitting his feelings and tried to laugh it off as he went to pull back. The only problem was that Riku was relucant to let him go which made it worse and more awkward. Riku shook his head and held Sora closer for there was one thing on his mind that had been bothering him for far too long. "Well let me just say..." Riku then swooped in a kiss upon Sora, "I uh like you too." He smirked through his panicked immediately and whined at the mere touch, desperate to get away that is before Riku's words meaning had registered in his mind and he gasped.

His legs were barely keeping him up if not for Riku's strong grip on him he would've surely collapsed in an instant. He allowed the kiss but did nothing to return it for fear of getting carried away. His arms slackened and fell lazily around Riku's waist once more as he waited it out. Seeing no encouragement to continue Riku stopped and separated himself.

"Sorry." He muttered creating an awkward atmosphere around the teens. "So, where to now, Destiny Island is probably still gone." He said looking away from Sora. Sora, who was sorely rubbing his flushed burnt neck, shrugged shakily and coyily tried to find Riku's eyes and apologize. " You don't have to be sorry, I.. I'm glad that you like uh- you know and yeah. But you're right home's probably long gone by now." Sora agreed in a trembling tremor, a hand now rubbing fervently at his left arm. "... and for the record I really don't mind if you kiss me just... warn me first." He offered a bashful smile to the other as he held out a hand. "Heh I'll make a note of that." Riku smiled lightly before accepting the hand. He was brought up to his feet which he stumbled on a little due to the lack of strength he had left within him.

"I'll be fine." He added while arching his back. "So captain, where is our next destination pray tell."

" How much munny you got on you?" Sora asked offhandishly and retrieved his munny pouch from his back pocket as he quickly weight it in his palm. He figured that he still had about 8 thousand munny and grimaced it was dwindling to barely anything. He thought as he checked back with Riku. Riku pulled out a small sack and counted his amount. "I've got 12 thousand here." He announced before putting the currency back into its proper place. Pursing his lips in a thin line, Sora nodded curtly as he rebuttoned his back pocket before summoning his keyblade and said, " Right then, let's go you need to rest I have a room at the local hotel. We're not in a hurry so come on. I'm not letting you pass out of me again. Plus we both need to eat, especially you." He said, glancing up at Riku and bumping shoulders with him before racing ahead. " Let's go! " He shouted as chimes of his carefree laughter echoed the smiled and ran after the boy just like the old times racing across the sandy beach of destiny island with bragging rights as the prize for the winner.

The teens dove in and out of the streets and alleyways before reaching the modest inn. "Okay you beat me this time." Riku nudged Sora's arm before they both entered the chortled and flopped onto the bed with a heavy sigh with placed a hand loosely over his stomach and smiled over at Riku. Sitting up a bit, the brunet glanced about the room quietly as he mused over whether not to ask to trade in this room for one with single beds instead of their queen sized mattress. Riku surveyed the room before plopping down on the cushions of a chair placed in the corner by the bed. He released a long breath finally able to lower his defenses for once.

T

he boy glanced at Sora, who seemed to be deep in thought. "So any ideas as far as food sounds like for you?" "Hm?!" Sora looked up as the question was asked and shrugged dismissively. " I'm fine with anything, food in general just sounds good to me." He snorted and folded his arms behind his head and lazily laid back once again. " How about we just get room service? I'm not in any mood to move," he said, peeking over his stomach as he waited for Riku's answer with a wary smirk. "Ah yes, I almost forgot how much of a lazy bum you are." Riku teased while searching for any type of food menu. He checked everywhere until he pulled the drawer of the nightstand which had a laminated list of phone numbers and food for room service. He sat on the edge of the bed next to Sora so they could both choose their entree. The brunet sat up and leaned in close to get a better look at the selection to only choose a simple beef with broccoli assortment before lying back again and closing his eyes. Humming to himself, Sora patted out a soft beat on his stomach and stole a quick peek of Riku's expression to only laugh and inquire, " What? I'm happy." he said with a snort. "Hm not a thing wrong with that." Riku smiled before choosing veggie beef soup as his meal.

He reached for the phone, dialed the number, and repeated the order to room service. He thanked them before placing the phone back on the receiver and fell back on the side of the bed next to Sora. Sora internally panicked but immediately hid that fact as he closed his eyes and relaxed. Taking a deep breath, he steel his emotions and opened one eye to catch Riku staring at him as if waiting to see if Sora would notice. the brunet groaned a bit and turned over on his side to face the towhead full on. " You gotta a bone to pick with me or something cuz you're staring like a serious creeper right now, like you're sizing me up or whatever. " Sora stated with precariously placed hand on in front of Riku's eyes trying to block them from let out a chuckle. "Heh whatever." He then rolled to his side with his back turned to Sora. He then pinched between his eyes as regret of his past actions hit him. Why was it that he came on to Sora like that so quickly, he could tell that he wasn't ready but still Riku decided to push further. "Perhaps it was maybe a side effect to having your heart back." Riku thought to himself still feeling a pang of guilt and regret.

The boy swallowed dryly and frowned before scooting closer and slipping his arms around Riku's chest and hugging him from the behind. " Just stop being so awkward is all. I might like you but that doesn't mean I can't unlike you..." He internally smacked himself as he realized just how assholely he must've sounded. " Dude, all I'm asking is if you want something from me ask... I'm not as scared as you think I am. I just don't want to end smothering you like some pathetically needy pansy." Riku sat up and looked at the brunet"Well, what exactly do you want? Don't think about anything else but what you seriously want." He didn't want to sound angry but he hated when Sora thought more about other people's thoughts rather than his own. Opening his mouth to speak, Sora suddenly felt very pressured and uncomfortable, "... I... nothing. I don't want anything, I just don't want you to be so awkward cautious around because of what happened earlier. I honestly just wasn't expecting you to engage me... I never said I didn't enjoy... Just forget it you're probably not even listening more," Sora sighed and pressed his face into Riku's back lightly. But what Sora didn't realize that Riku was in fact listening, soaking up every word so as to know truly how Sora felt. He was holding something back, that much was obvious, and it started to piss Riku off. To refrain from anymore bickering Riku got up and headed towards the door. " I'll be right outside. I just need some time to get my head straight." The boy informed Sora before slipping out the door and leaning against a pillar tugging at his hair in frustration. "Dammit, what's with me today?" Riku hissed through his teeth. Sora went to stop him when he heard the door closing before he could get in time. Immediately deflating, the boy hugged his stomach tightly and leaned over the side of the bed with a pained frown. He couldn't make it anymore obvious that he just wasn't willing to overwhelm Riku with his infatuation just yet. But in truth it was getting hard to control himself around the other teen, his hands would itch terribly from the need to hold the towhead or merely have him near.

He would if he could return his interest only if he knew what his own personal restrictions were. About a half hour passed when Riku looked to the side to see an employee carrying room service towards their room. The boy decided that he was done venting and traded the food for the money that the boys owed the hotel. Balancing the tray, Riku entered softly. "Hey, I brought a peace offering." He said softly to the boy lying on the bed before placing the food on the nightstand. Sora's eyes rolled over to the tray and shook his head, " I'm not all that hungry now, my stomach hurts actually. " He admitted and closed his eyes as he turned his head back to stare at the ceiling bleakly. "Oh. I see." Riku replied without much emotion. He took a long breath to calm himself before glancing to Sora."Do you need me to get some pain killers, or something?" Riku pointed toward the office. "Different kind of pain. " He breathed as his sights slid over to meet the other's eyes. " I just feel... bad. I feel bad because it's like I'm giving you mixed signals and yeah. Just wish I could feel... Well better about our relationship is all." Sora continued and sighed, sitting up and crawling over to Riku to hug him around the waist. Riku placed his hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Then we'll work on it. It just kind of drives me nuts when you just beat around the bush is all." "Heh. Right," Sora chuckled meekly and relucantly released the other as he slid back down onto the mattress and frowned. " just making sure..." He bit his upper lip and glared down at the carpet with a rather thoughtful glint in his eyes. Riku reached toward the nightstand and inhaled his soup to the last spoonful. When he was done, he placed the bowl back on the tray and leaned against the wall. The brunet watched him through shielded eyes before standing and stretching a bit. He shot a glance in the other's boy direction and announced, " I'm gonna go sit on the balcony for a while... I need some fresh air," He said after slipping on his shoes and pulling his waistcoat back on before heading into the other side of the room.

Opening the double doors, Sora exited and walked over to the railing to look up at the night sky. Riku watched the boy out the door and decided that it would be a good time to get some shut eye for once. He turned to his side and closed his eyes waiting to drift into subconsciousness. For once his mind wasn't invaded by Ansem's threats, heartless, or the constant battle between light and darkness. Externally a peaceful smile appeared on the boy's face, this being the first time in a while to occur. Sighing and shivering slightly as he felt the air slowly chilling over, Sora pursed his lips and clinched his teeth to keep them from chattering. Swallowing his pain, the boy turned around and leaned inside to steal a glance at Riku. Smiling at the sudden ease enveloping his friend, the brunet chuckled and looked back to the stars. He could almost feel it again, the individual pieces of sand sticking on his skin, the cool salty air flowing past his face, and the sound of Sora's laughter. Destiny island, Riku's true home. He was sitting by the shore when something strange began to happen, the ocean blacked and smoke rose through the sand and destroyed the paopu trees. Emerging was a fleet of heartless ready for an attack. Riku quickly jumped to his feet and tried to summon his keyblade, but it failed. He cried out to Sora but when he turned he saw Ansem ripping Sora's heart out of his chest and the boy disappearing in the horde of heartless.

Riku scrambled over the beasts trying to reach where the boy had fallen. When he found Sora's limp body he tried shaking him to wake up but he was gone. Riku tried to hold in his cries and looked back on the innocent boy's face which began to morph into Ansem's and his piercing eyes were the last thing he saw before falling out of the bed trying to come back to reality in short forced alerted by the loud thud coming from inside the room, Sora frowned and peeked in again to find that Riku was gone. With widening eyes, the boy panicked and hurried into the hotel room and began frantically search for Riku. Finding him on the other side of the bed, Sora immediately went to assist him. He placed a hand on his shoulder to let the towhead know he was there and grabbed him by an arm to help him up. "Thanks." Riku said breathlessly. With the help of Sora, Riku was back in his feet with minimal stumbling. "Thank god it was only a dream." The boy thought to himself while rubbing the last of sleep from his eyes."Yeah, no big. You okay though?" He questioned genuinely concerned about the teen as he helped over the bed to sit him down on the edge. " What happened, did you get spooked or something?" Sora frowned as he sat beside Riku with a hand on his lower back for balance. "Hm? Oh yeah just a bad dream." Riku assured the boy while trying to get his mind straightened out but when he looked back at Sora's face he saw a flash of Ansem's eyes.

Furrowing his brows as he heard the news Sora barely spoke and rather ruffled the boy's hair. "Just a bad dream, eh? Heh-heh, well bad dreams especially don't send you convulsing on the floor so try again." Riku then proceeded to tell the boy every detail of the nightmare. when he finished, Riku sat down on his bedside. "So what do ya think?" The boy asked looking at Sora through his silver sat there and only blinked for a long moment before his mouth opened and then closed it. He honestly had no clue what it meant beyond the fact Ansem was still luring somewhere deep within Riku's heart fighting to see the light once more. Scratching his head and twisting his lips to the side as he thought Sora simply shrugged and stood up to hug Riku's front briefly. Riku accepted the hug graciously. "I just wish this constant fighting would stop. If I wasn't so stupid when our adventure began we wouldn't have this problem." The boy's regret started to increase but tried to push it away. "No I won't let Ansem have an advantage over me." Riku thought to shooshed him and held fast to Riku before kneeling down catching him a relaxed insubstatial kiss.

Pulling back, he looked off sides and muttered an apology, " You just looked like you needed it... I..."Sora sighed and went to step away but yet again Riku refused. "No no it's fine." Riku spoke softly. He placed his fingers lightly on his lips, still feeling the boy's soft touch. He then got up and wrapped his arms around Sora's chest and whispered near his ear, "thanks". Sora gasped and closed his eyes, swallowing his whimpers as he returned the hug and nodded in reply. "Like I said you looked like you needed one is... a-all. " He reasoned and gulpped softly, his body was jolting internally from Riku's mere presence and trembling on the outside from his warm held each other close for what seemed like forever. Then Riku loosened his hold "so what is it that you want to do now?""Sleep. Sleep sounds good. " Sora murmured against Riku's shoulder as his legs gingerly arched and he realized that he was practically falling asleep in the towhead's arms while standing. "Sounds good to me." Riku smirked "you take the bed this time, gravity isn't my friend today anyway."

The boy arched his back before grabbing a sheet and a pillow and layed it carefully on the floor by the bed. The brunet watched him with crossed arms and a heavy pout, " You know I don't bite or talk in my sleep so..." Sora trailed and gritted his teeth in frustration before grabbing his own pillow and scooting Riku over. " If you won't sleep in a bed like a normal person then I'm coming down here to supervise you." Sora scoffed and purposely rolled over one of Riku's arms. "Hm fair enough." Riku was too tired to argue. As soon as he laid his head on his pillow he fell asleep instantaneously. His face calm but still had a twinge of fear. Sighing Sora playfully tugged and pulled at the other's hair to only smooth it back against his face before he would tuck it. Caressing Riku's sleep face with softly fingertips, the teen brushed the pads of his finger over the towhead's cheek as to ease the disturbing dark dream. Soon he stopped before he slipped his arms around Riku and joined his friend in Cloud 9. With Sora by him, Riku's nightmares dissolved.

A few hours passed by when the boy woke up to Sora's sleeping face which was rather close to his own. Riku refused to move to not awaken the boy, instead he stared at Sora's face analyzing every detail. "It's nice to see him so calm and worry free of all the troubles we have been going through." Riku thought to himself. The snuffle escaped from the young male and he turned over to yawn softly to himself.

Feeling another solid object behind him, Sora felt the item to find an arm then a nose. Gasping at the discovery, he sat up in a dazed panic and shoved the sheet off to stand. "Chill out Sora, it's only me." Riku chuckled while rubbing his nose. He pulled the sheet off and stood up to stretch. While arching his back, he watched Sora slowly coming back from his dream state. "Quite a wake up call I must say." Riku teased. Sora huffed and punched Riku's arm. Hard. What did he expect? They both been high alert since they got here. With his mood soured and a horrible dehydration headache Sora crawled back onto the bed and nuzzled his way under the remaining blankets to continue rubbed his arm lightly and sat on the chair next to the window. Though his face was toward the window he constantly glanced to Sora as the boy fell back into his subconscious.

After Riku was sure that the boy was fast asleep, he got up and crept into the shower. Feeling the warm droplets hitting his skin Riku reflected every detail of the events that occurred. How did destiny island disappear, where did everyone go beforehand, and how did Ansem fit into all of it. Riku didn't have any sound of humming trolled through the stale air of the room as a maiden with crooked smile and a stone white face danced about the hotel in light lithe steps. She bounded onto the bed without Sora even noticing in the slightly.

Her laughter rang out as she sat herself on the bed and went to curiously observing the sleeping teen. " Oh, Sora you poor thing. Riku's still dragging you around? Heh-heh.. Well not for too much longer, my dear Sora. Not for too much longer at all." The sound of the bathroom door opening echoed as Riku stepped out partially dressed and dripping wet hair. As soon as he saw a stranger in the room he summoned his keyblade and pointed it toward the girl. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?" "Is that how you greet all of your visitors, Riku? You're the reason I'm here. You wanted answers and well I have your answers... but I don't think yelling at me is going to make me anymore obliged to help ease your thoughts..." She giggled at the end of her statement before gently caressing Sora's sleepy plump cheek as she glanced back at Riku challengingly.

"You still have yet to answer my first question." Riku lowered his weapon only slightly though his gaze might as well had been just as deadly. He crept closer to the stranger not dropping his guard for even a moment.

"And how do you know my name?" He added to the list of questions he had asked. "All very good question, but in due time Riku in due time. I'm Tenra, and I was summon here by the King himself. He is convinced that the darkness that you and Sora had once thought to have abolished has well... Somehow grown stronger in your time of peace. And its true master lurks within you, Riku. You're the reason..." She finished as her words echoed briefly before fading to utter silence.

Riku dispersed his weapon at the mention of the king, but the woman's next words sent a chill down Riku's spine."Wait are you saying all of this, everything that Sora and I have been going through is because of me, because of Ansem inside me?" Riku placed a hand on his heart still very much aware that Ansem was listening nodded excitedly and offered a cruelly timed warm smile as she stood.

" Ansem... Has been brewing with energy the longer he remains within you. He is feeding of your heart and your love for Sora. From what I heard Sora isn't acting exactly normal either. But that's only hearsay. " she reasoned and patted the brunet's head before gesturing to Riku. "Get dressed we have to find Namine, this can wait no longer Riku. We must seal your darkness before... If you'll excuse me please just get dressed and speak nothing of this to Sora." "But I can't just leave him here and he will follow me otherwise." Riku pointed out while pulling his shirt on then his vest. He knew that he had to do something, if this girl was right about Ansem, then there wasn't much time left based on how close Ansem was last time to completely take over. Sighing in sudden exasperation, Tenra gritted her teeth for moment before gently leaning down and whispering something inaudible to Sora, rousing the boy from his sleep calmly. He looked up at the lady and blinked a couple of time before yawning loudly and stretching as he stood. Glancing up at the woman once again, he asked her a question in a voice barely above a whisper. She nodded silently and gestured to Riku. Sora smiled stupidly at the other's mere presence and quickly slipped his shoes. "Wait do you two know each other?"


	5. Chapter 5

_"Get dressed we have to find Namine, this can wait no longer Rikuya. We must seal your darkness before... If you'll excuse me please just get dressed and speak nothing of this to Sora." "But I can't just leave him here and he will follow me otherwise." Riku pointed out while pulling his shirt on then his vest. He knew that he had to do something, if this girl was right about ansem, then there wasn't much time left based on how close ansem was last time to completely take over. Sighing in sudden exasperation, Tenra gritted her teeth for moment before gently leaning down and whispering something inaudible to Sora, rousing the boy from his sleep calmly. He looked up at the lady and blinked a couple of time before yawning loudly and stretching as he stood. Glancing up at the woman once again, he asked her a question in a voice barely above a whisper. She nodded silently and gestured to Riku. Sora smiled stupidly at the other's mere presence and quickly slipped his shoes. "Wait do you two know each other?"_

Riku was now completely confused. He scratched his damp head in thought but stopped to put his shoes on as well. The woman laughed and shook her head, "Not in the slightest, I just know a lot about you two. I never seen you guys till now. The King still tells me stories about your travels with him Rikuya. And you, Sora, he told me numerous things about how well you've mastered your keyblade and how your determination saved your friends and home! " She noted and looked between the two boys to observe the same reaction from both. Total and absolute blank stares."Okay so you mentioned finding namine, where, might I ask, is she?" Riku tried to make sense of all this but let it go and see what would happen woman stiffened at the question and made a disgusted face, " The problem is she travels herself nowadays. The damn witch feels the need to 'right her wrong'. In honest I think she shouldn't even bother, but that's just me. Anyways, you guys are looking at me like I know I'm suppose everything I'm just the messager."

"So where do we have to go? What are we suppose to do next?" "Beats me. Like I said I'm just the messager you want solid answers go find the King. Simple as that. " Tenra snorted and brushed at her bloomers before heading over to the opened balcony doors. With a small hop, she disappeared and landed on a winged beast. " Good luck you two, sorry I couldn't help... Mphehe oh Riku you might wanna check your zipper. Gotcha!" Tenra said as she was whisped away and out.

Riku quickly checked and realized that the girl was only pulling his leg. "So sora, any idea what we should do now that our unexpected visitor is gone." Shrugging half-heartedly, the boy sat back down and rubbed at his face with a loud sigh. "... This is getting too crazy all at once. " Sora stated and glanced up at Riku, his blue orbs tired and barely open.

"Well, I know one thing, I have to go find mine as fast as I can." Riku reached for his munny pouch and some potions from the first aid kit that was propped next to the door.

"Wait, where are you going? You weren't think of leaving me here were you? Because I'm coming with you, I'm not losing you again. We made a promise to stick together..." Sora pursed his lips and stood, crossing his arms. " and why was Namine more important than finding what happening to the worlds? Oh I get it, you care more about her than our home, is that it? Some promise..."

"Sora, I'm doing this in order to save our home. I can't tell you why, but if you want to question someone, ask the king or his messenger." Riku wrapped his arms around the boy and whispered in his ear," I promise all of this will be over soon and we'll go home, together." And with that he released the boy and walked out the door.

Staring at the boy as he walked away from him again the pain in his stomach knotted up once more and Sora didn't even bother to calm himself before he grabbed his waistcoat and ran after Riku. He was determined to aid the boy in whatever way he could and after all he made the promise as well. He had see it through even if they came closer to the darkness than ever before Sora would see to it that he was right there beside Riku every step of the way.

Riku ran through the various alleyways and up the stairways which led toward the rooftops. He perched himself on the edge of the roof and scanned the area. "Namine if you're here, please show yourself." He spoke softly. Suddenly a wave of sickness hit riku, "Ansem, do you ever give up?" Riku hissed as a sharp pain came from his heart causing him to stumble and almost fall off the roof.

" Careful, wouldn't want you fall...'' A voice trailed with a distant tone as its owner gently pulled Riku back from the eaves. " I hadn't expected you to find me so soon. That rotten Tenra is spreading some pretty nasty rumors about you and Sora." the blond figure stepped back and locked her arms loosily behind her.

"Namine." He addressed the girl while pulling himself together. "I was told you could help me with a certain, problem." Riku walked closer to the girl with his hand at his chest as if it were to ease the pain inside.

Suddenly the blonde's interest was peaked and she tilted her head to one side, gauging his approach with cold blue orbs. " A problem? What sort of problem is it? " She inquired, going to assist Riku only to falter ever-so slightly in her own approach on seeing his condition. She steeled over her nerves and went to guide the boy over to a more suitable seat. Once he was seated comfortably on a sunbathing chair, Namine knelt beside him and shivered. " please tell me...''

"It's Ansem, he's been getting stronger as he is residing in my heart. He has already made our home disappear and tried to release my heart out of my body for him to control. He's planning something big and Tenra told me the only way to stop it is by finding you and sealing the darkness in my heart."

"... Oh my," Namine frowned and looked aside to think, " Riku, you have my word. But be warned, sealing Ansem away isn't going to really solve anything. He'll be trapped within your heart for all eternity... Are you really willing to subcome to darkness if this fails? The lock only lasts as long as you have light and remain stable... Are you sure you can do that?"

Riku thought to himself of everything that he had been through and in the darkest of times he could always find the light especially if it had anything to do with Sora. " I don't know what will happen, but I can't let Ansem grow any stronger than he already has. I accept what ever risks or consequences come from this." He told Namine with absolute sincerity.

"Very well..." the witch replied and sighed as she stood to smooth out her dress. She disappeared and in her place was a fluttering scrap of parchment paper. It kissed the ground with a light ring and rolled against the wind to be swept away by a strong gust.

Riku watched the paper swirl in the air until it was a mere dot in the sky. "What do I do now?" The question flowed around him in the silence.

"Riku!" called a familiar voice, "R-Riku!" the call drew closer as did a stumbling Sora who was haphazardly scouring the vacant alleyways. He grunted in frustration and kicked over a stack of freshly pitched boxes to sink against the wall in place of the cardboard containers.

"Hey now did that box really deserve that?" Riku popped his head out from the rooftop directly above Sora. His expression was mixed between teasing and seriousness.

"Riku?!"Sora looked skyward to find his friend. With a lazy and affectionate simper, the brunet laughed and shook his head in disbelief. " I'm coming up so don't move..." Sora hollered after a moment and had climbed the fire-escapes stairwell in a matter of seconds. Before Riku even had the chance to speak, the teen tackled him in a painfully embarrassing hug. He disregarded that fact and held his ground, " I told you I'm coming with you..."

"Well I guess I can't protest since 1) you're already here and 2)I have no idea where I am going to go from here." Riku admitted through squeezed breaths.

"What did Namine say, I mean did'ya find her?" The brunet pursed his lips and let his arms drop to his side sheepishly as he offered a soft goofy grin to Riku. "and maybe you're right maybe we should go to Disney Castle and ask King Mickey."

"Well I did find her, but she didn't say anything encouraging, much less helpful." Riku stole a look at Sora, fast enough to catch his strange smile. "If you're up to travel that far, then we can head out whenever you want." Riku gave Sora a half smile but inside he felt uneasy with Namine's words. One mistake from him could cause endless chaos and misery. It wasn't the least bit amount of pressure he couldn't handle, but he didn't want Ansem to take over again, mostly to not hurt Sora. He was Riku's light, the one thing that prevented Riku from falling into endless darkness on more than one occasion.

Swallowing softly, the teen nodded cheerfully and smiled at the towhead with an aloof glint in his eyes. This would be the third time meeting Disney Castle and he hoped it would be the last. Sora wasn't too certain how the King would react to seeing them- he and Riku under these circumstances once again. Which that thought alone disheartened the boy, he'd grown fond of the mouse king- though not as well acquainted as the male stand at his level.

"yeah now how to get there should be interesting. You would happen to have a gummi ship stashed away somewhere in any of your pockets would you?" Riku smirked as he lowered his eyes to the numerous amounts of storage space in the boy's clothing. Though he was messing with Sora, the issue still stood, he doubted that they could be able to travel through dark portals like others have done in the past. He even managed it a few times as well, but that required the use of darkness and how his circumstances were currently, he didn't want to take any chances

Biting his lip and flustering over at the gesture to his cargo shorts, Sora looked off-sides and ignored the need to squeak in reply. Why... This is why he hated Riku sometimes, he was such an ass. But the brunet recovered quickly only practically jump forward and into the towhead's arms as he suggested the former Armory shop keeper, "Maybe, uh maybe Leon and Cid are still around..." He added with a hopeful simper.


End file.
